"I can live no longer here": Elizabeth Wirt's decision to buy a new house
Date
1995
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Publisher
University of Delaware
Abstract
On a cold January evening in 1816 Elizabeth Wirt wrote a letter to her husband William from their Richmond home insisting they buy a new house, and her story provides an example of how an individual used architecture to express personal and cultural values. In a series of letters to William, Elizabeth voiced her discontent with the inconveniences in their present house and the benefits of the new one. By organizing her discussions about the two houses into the categories of communication and accommodation (based upon her own frequent use of these terms), this thesis explores Elizabeth's needs and expectations in housing. ☐ The first section discusses houses and the landscapes they inhabit as communicators of information and examines houses and neighborhoods as public commodities to be read and visually consumed by the community. This thesis argues that Elizabeth recognized the ability of the style and location of a house to communicate information about the owner's status. By selling their pre-Revolutionary Era house near a commercial area and buying a more fashionable federal townhouse in a predominantly residential area populated by merchants, she attempted to define her family's rank within Richmond society and strengthen their social alliances. ☐ The second section explores houses as accommodations. Here the discussion turns to the private life of the household, examining Elizabeth's concerns over separating the activities of her children, slaves, and husband in order to provide her family with comfortable and convenient living spaces. To aid in this separation she selected a new house with a central passage plan which could facilitate movement more efficiently than the plan of the old house. In addition, this new house contained more interior space and outbuildings. ☐ This thesis .underscores the complexities in decision-making behind an action as ordinary as selecting a new house. Elizabeth Wirt's decision to buy a new house provides an understanding of the role women played in determining their family's housing, and she demonstrates the power of women to make such architectural choices.